'A new chapter': B.C. woman who recently lost everything in house fire wins $500,000 lotto prize

B.C. lottery winner Darlene Tough is seen in a photo provided by BCLC.

Vancouver — A B.C. woman is ready for a fresh start after claiming a $500,000 lotto prize.

Darlene Tough checked her ticket in a Delta London Drugs and discovered she'd won $25,000 a year for life from the Daily Grand's Aug. 26 draw.

"The screen showed congratulations," Tough said in a news release from the B.C. Lottery Corporation.

She said she called her husband right away and told him to come to the store.

"He saw the screen, and he (also) started to become emotional," she said.

The timing of Tough's win is bittersweet as a fire in her family's home caused them to lose everything.

"We had found out everything in our home was a write off," she said. "We feel like we have to restart our lives all over again. But my husband says it starts a new chapter in our life, and this will help with that beginning."

Tough chose to take the $500,000 lump-sum prize, rather than $25,000 each year. So far this year, lotto players have redeemed more than $6 million in winnings from the Daily Grand. The odds of winning the $25,000 a year for life prize are one in 2,224,698, according to the BCLC.

The top prize of $1,000 per day, or a lump sump of $7 million, has odds of one in 13,348,188.